Former Coventry City striker Yakubu has hung up his boots just over eight months after leaving the Ricoh Arena.

The Nigerian international has brought an end to a 20-year career on his 35th birthday.

The former Portsmouth, Everton and Middlesbrough striker’s last club was the Sky Blues , for whom he made an unremarkable three appearances last February.

Signed by then manager Russell Slade , the former Premier League star promised much on paper but delivered very little, looking unfit after joining City as a free agent and not having played for several months following an unsuccessful spell in Turkey.

He managed just 69 minutes of football for then struggling City who were in the middle of a relegation battle.

“Things are quite tough for Coventry City at the moment and I understand what is expected of me.

“I had the opportunity to train with the players here, I see great qualities and believe things can get better.

“I love scoring goals and helping my team-mates to score, together we can lift the club.”

Here's what Slade said after his debut:

“You saw little flashes of Yakubu.

"His calmness on the ball, linking up.

"He’s not going to run past too many but if we can get it to him he’s going to be difficult for the opposition to handle.”

His arrival sparked initial excitement from some fans who hoped that he could provide the goals to fire the team to safety but it soon became clear that he was so far off the pace in terms of his fitness, a fact that was borne out when he pulled up with a hamstring tear against Swindon Town in his last showing, just minutes after going on as a late substitute in the 3-1 home defeat to the Robins.

Coventry City v Gillingham in the Sky Bet league 1 match at the Ricoh Arena, with, Yakubu Aiyegbeni

He made his debut at AFC Wimbledon, going on just after the hour for Marcus Tudgay, and followed that up with 20 minutes on his home debut in a 2-1 Ricoh victory over Gillingham.

But he became a cheap figure of ridicule when he pulled up injured in his last showing when a fan videoed him unable to move from the halfway line for the last few minutes of the game as he sought to stay on the field to avoid City ending the game with ten men, Slade having used all three of his substitutes.